【推荐1】Eleven years ago, the world I was familiar with ended. My _______ was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Over the course of seven months, Bill went from_______ me at tennis to needing my help to go to the bathroom.

It was the_______ time of my life. Maybe not_______. But it was certainly the time when I felt most alive. I _______ that a flat tire or the small complaints of a child with the sniffles (抽鼻子)_______ in comparison with the beauty of sudden laughter, the night sky, the _______ of a bakery. I found I could _______ myself to see more beauty.

In the days after Bill’s diagnosis and brain surgery, being his caregiver _______ me to find clinical trials and talk to different oncologists, which gave me a sense of________. In the later days, it meant being fully present for almost every moment. During his last weekend, a relative________ him. I noticed that she’d changed her appearance, and not in a good way. It was the kind of thought I’d ________ keep to myself. Just then, Bill ________ exactly what I’d been thinking, in that ruthlessly (鲁莽地) truthful way he had, and I found myself________ out loud.

“I could live with this man forever, even________ as much care as he does,” I thought. However, he would be dead in four________!

Eleven years later, I still try to be the ________   I became during those seven months. I try to be a little more ________ and generous, a little more grateful for the small __________ in life. It was my husband’s last, best __________ to me.

【推荐2】Life is colorful. Sometimes it’s just like potato salad; when it’s shared, it became a picnic.

With three young children to bring up, my husband John and I were very _______. "Can we go on a picnic, Mom?" my six-year-old daughter, Becky _______. "Please." I had said no so many times in _______ months, and I decided the usual Saturday morning chores could _______. To her _______, I agreed.

I prepared a few sandwiches and _______ a cooler with ice and drinks and called John _______.

My eleven-year-old twin sons loaded the cooler and the picnic basket in the trunk and off we went to spend some _______ time together as a family.

About the time I got the lunch _______ out on the table, John arrived on the ________. That was one of the happiest meals we ever shared together. The meal was full of ________. We felt a closeness that had been hidden by work and school responsibilities for so many months. John and the boys ________ rocks into the lake, Becky fed the ducks and I sat quietly at the picnic table, ________ God for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

That night as our children went to bed, I kissed their cheeks. It ________ me what a wonderful life I had. As I walked out of the room it dawned on me that even the busiest ________ could become a picnic when it’s shared with the ones you ________. Even though kids have now grown up and ________ from home, I can still remember how I felt that day while sitting at the picnic table.

Maybe today would be a good time to ________ potato salad, call all of my ________ kids, feed some hungry ducks and skipped a few rocks into the lake. Since life is like potato salad, let’s make it a ________.

【推荐3】My son Sam is autistic (患自闭症的), and even on a good day he can be easily ______.

It was his first day at high school. We’d set up a plan for how he’d get home: I’d ______him up outside the ______ near his school at 3:30 pm and I believed this was a ______ plan. Unknown to me, very bad weather was ______ its way and I was ______ to tell him to take shelter.

Because my car broke down and he didn’t take his mobile phone, I was running late and couldn’t communicate that to him. ______, he was left alone and extremely ______, ______ where I’d told him to ______. This was when a beautiful older lady not only went to check on him, but took him ______ her shop, ______ him down, got my phone number from him and called me.

Five years later he ______ to go into her shop every afternoon, buy a drink, have a chat and she sends him home with enough bread to feed a small nation.

Sam graduates this year, and I’m ______ feeling the need to drop by the shop to let this wonderful lady know that she saved Sam, and that she saved me. I’m not sure ______ I can communicate all of this, but at least I will ______ her. And believe me, if you’re ______ if this world is a complete mess (混乱) right now, I’m here to say that it is not.

So I guess this is a love letter to those of you who have helped a ______ out of the goodness of your heart. Please know you are appreciated, and that, ______ unknowingly, you have made a great ______ in someone’s life.

【推荐1】Last year I decided to do some volunteer work. I began to ___ on the Internet and discovered Volunteer USA. Three months later I ___ myself on a plane to Phoenix, Arizona. I was ___ at the thought of living with loads of new people for three months. However, within fifteen minutes of arriving, my worries had gone. Everyone was so ___and like-minded that it was very easy to feel at home.

I was sent to the Coronado National Forest for my first 8-day ___. We had to carry everything we needed and walk three miles to where we worked. It may not seem like a ___ way but in 35℃ heat and with a heavy pack, my legs were on fire.

My job was to ___ a stairway out of rock. This ___ climbing up and down the side of a mountain inhabited by mountain lions, although I should say they were only heard, never ___.

Three days later, a beautiful stairway came into being. The ____ of knowing that my ____ will be on that mountainside for years to come is massive.

But on the last night we were ____ in a thunderstorm. I woke up at midnight to find a swimming pool in my tent. The temperature was close to ____. I had to spend the rest of the night trembling in the only ____ part of my tent.

Needless to say, I suffered a lot. But I know whatever I have to face in my life I was there and I survived. I think I am much ____ for having taken part in the project.

【推荐2】Michel is a young girl who works for the police ____ a handwriting expert (专家). She has helped ____ many criminals (罪犯) by using her special talents (天才).

When she was fourteen, Michel was already ____ interested in the differences in her friends' ____ that she would spend hours ____ them. After ____ college she went to France for a ____ two-year class in handwriting at the School of Police Science.

Michel says that it is ____ for people to hide their handwriting. She can discover ____ of what she needs to know simply ____ looking at the writing with her own eyes, ____ she also has machines ____ help her make ____ different kinds of paper and ink. This knowledge is often ____ great help to the police.

Michel believes that handwriting is a good ____ of what kind of person the ____ is. "I wouldn't go out with a fellow ____ I didn't like his handwriting. " She says. But she ____she fell in love with her future husband, a young policeman ____ she studied his handwriting. It is later proved to be ____ , however.

【推荐1】A Welcome Gift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them _______ side by side at the piano, playing jazz music to celebrate their new home happily.

However, their happiness disappeared the next morning. Someone had left a _______ under their door during the night. One of their neighbors complained about the sound of the piano. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their _______ and apologize.

“Maybe we could go and _______ everyone in person.” his mother said. “What if we invited them to come here for a party instead? Dario asked. They both loved the _______. Then they started to prepare for it.

Finally, the day of the party arrived. Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, _______ Dario's mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I _______ that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note I hope you don't think I disliked the playing.”

Dario's mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “We should apologize to you.” she said. “I didn't _______ how late it was when we were playing.”

“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert pointed to the book she had given them and said, “These songs are not such _______ music.”

“These songs are beautiful music. And we won't play so loud or late!” Dario said. The big smile on his mother's face gave him a feeling of ________ and made him feel that they were home at last.

【推荐3】It was a few days before Christmas many years ago when we didn’t have much money.

My wife and I had scrimped (省吃俭用) and_______to buy our young children some toys, but an unexpected car repair had taken most of our_______. We decided then that we could only afford to get one small_______for each of our children.

We arrived at the store, walked down the parking lot and past people_______gifts into their cars. I_______them a bit, because it surely didn’t feel like Christmas to me.

We hurried into the_______past the bell-ringer with our heads_______. I had always enjoyed putting something in his kettle (壶) before but wasn’t sure_______I could afford to this time. We_______all through the store hoping to find one thing each of our small children would like. Thankfully, we made it. We________for the checkout, and were amazed that we even had a few dollars left over.

As we walked out of the store into the winter air I stopped and________those dollars into the bell-ringer’s kettle. I didn’t have a penny________but that didn’t matter. Suddenly, it felt like Christmas.

A wonderful actress, Dale Evans put it best：“Christmas is love in________. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. ”It doesn’t have to be a gift of________either. When we do anything at any time to help others, it’s Christmas. May you always________God’s light through the love you give and the life you live.